85°F
weather icon Clear

Breakfast kits save money, time

What the heck? Didn’t summer just start? I just realized school starts Monday.

Before you think I’m a total goofball, we home-school, so I’m blissfully detached from the school year schedule. But I’m not detached from morning chaos. That seems to be something we all have in common. The only way to mitigate the morning madness is to organize the chaos.

Here’s one trick I’ve found. If we make self-serve breakfasts, it frees me up to drink more coffee and search for matching socks. So let’s make a freezer full of homemade breakfast scrambled egg kits. You know, the kind you “just crack an egg” into. Wink, wink.

Have you seen those scrambled eggs kits? Microwavable cups holding diced potatoes, sausage or bacon with vegetables and cheese, ready to stir and microwave. I love everything but the price. So I make them myself.

To compare prices, these ready-made kits sell for $2.49 each and contain about 3 ounces of ingredients, except egg. I made a bunch of kits in a variety of recipe combinations. Mine weighed between 4 and 6 ounces and cost an average of 75 cents, including the cost of two eggs. Frugal and fabulous.

The ready-made kits are refrigerated and thus perishable. I made freezable kits, so they last indefinitely.

You’ll need zip-top bags for this project. Snack-sized baggies are great, but if you find snack-sized “portion pack” bags, they’re perfect. The bags are printed with measurements in quarter-cup intervals up to 1 cup. How cool is that?

To make the kits, I purchased bags of frozen, diced hash brown potatoes, frozen pepper-and-onion blend, frozen (fully cooked) breakfast sausage links, diced ham, cooked real bacon crumbles and a variety of shredded cheeses. As a guideline, a 32-ounce bag of diced potatoes makes approximately 20 quarter-cup portions or serves as the base for 20 kits. A 16-ounce bag of peppers and onions makes approximately 16 (2 tablespoons) servings.

These kits are totally customizable. Don’t want potatoes? Ditch them and add more of what you do want. Vegetarian? Swap the meat for more vegetables, like mushroom or zucchini. Like heat? Add chorizo and jalapenos.

Here’s the secret: If your kit contains between ½ cup and ¾ cup of ingredients, it will combine with two eggs and cook according to the directions below.

MAKE-AHEAD SCRAMBLED EGG KITS

What you’ll need

For each kit:

1/4 cup frozen diced potatoes

2 tablespoons frozen three-pepper-and-onion blend, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped ham, cooked sausage or cooked crumbled bacon

2 tablespoons shredded cheese

Here’s how

Place ingredients into a zip-top plastic bag and freeze until ready for use. Measurements don’t have to be exact. This is a great job for the kiddies.

When ready to serve, place the contents of the bag into a microwave-safe ceramic coffee cup that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Heat on high for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir. Add two eggs and stir well. Heat in microwave in 20- to 30-second increments, stirring each time, until fully cooked. Mine take about 2 minutes total time.

It’s best to err on the side of slightly undercooked, as the carry-over heat will continue to cook the eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Use caution, as the eggs and the cup will be hot.

One benefit of these breakfast kits is kids can make breakfast themselves with adult supervision. Teach them how to use a timer and hot pads to protect against burning. You’ll be rewarded by knowing that if they starve to death in college, it’s on them.

Lifestyle expert Patti Diamond is a recipe developer and food writer of the website “Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous!” Visit Patti at www.divasonadime.com and join the conversation on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom. Email Patti at divapatti@divasonadime.com.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
When household products overpromise and actually deliver

Every now and again you come across a product that makes you stand back and say, “Wow, that worked way better than I thought it would!” These gleeful moments come as a welcome surprise when we’re often disappointed by products that overpromise and under-deliver. When I find these little gems, I store them away in my mental DIY toolbox. This past month, I was happy to add a few more “must have” products that exceeded my expectations.

Summer is a time to be safe

It’s a safe bet that the one thing we all have in common every summer is managing the extreme heat and our body’s reaction to the excessive temperature prevalent in our geographic location.

Free fishing fun

Logan Davis, along with his kids Winter and Maverick, tried their best to catch a fish Saturday, along with all the many others who enjoyed the city’s free fishing day at the pond at Veterans Memorial Park.

Ordinance promotes cleanliness, accessibility of public places

Individuals camping in public spaces has increased dramatically in the past few years across the nation. On May 27 the city of Boulder City joined the cities of Reno, Las Vegas, Henderson, and Sparks, along with Clark, Washoe, and Nye counties in passing a measure to expand the prohibition on camping in public places within city limits. The new ordinance goes into effect on June 19, 2025.

And all that jazz (in the park)

A relatively small but appreciative crowd turned out Saturday evening for Jazz in the Park, sponsored by the Boulder City Parks and Recreation Department and the Las Vegas Jazz Society. The evening featured the Marlane Coker Quintet and guest at Bicentennial Park.

Flushing faux pas may lead to clogs, costly repairs

When it comes to plumbing clogs, we can definitely apply the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”…or in this case, a quart of Liquid Plumr.

Art exhibition to showcase work of Connie Ferraro

Connie Ferraro has worn many hats in her life. They have included Broadway dancer, actress, wife of longtime Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro and these days, artist.

Year ending on high note at Mitchell Elementary

From the first day to the last, it takes a great deal of energy to get through a school year. The students, staff, and families are ceaseless in their efforts to ensure that we have a great year from beginning to end. We are successful because we are supported by our community.

Mental health in an aging population

The American Psychiatric Association defines mental illness as health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking, and behaviors.

Sunflower Breakfast celebrates King’s parent volunteers

Boulder City’s commitment to community was on full display at this year’s annual Sunflower Breakfast, a heartwarming event dedicated to honoring the incredible volunteers who help our school thrive.